Recovery, A Professor Layton Fanfic
by CompleteLaytonTrash
Summary: Clive has fully recovered from his illness, but is miserable. He winds up revealing some things he wish he hadn’t, but realizes its for the best. Rated T due to the fact that Clive shows off some nasty scars and speaks of cutting ones self (Completed!)


Recovery

Summary: Clive has finally recovered from his illness, but is miserable. He winds up showing off some things he regrets, and winds up requiring comfort.

Warning for self-harm references and self-harm scars.

"Clive! Are you in there?"

"Yes. Is there something you need?"

"Yeah! Professor said that you need to help me with some homework while he's out!"

"Fine. I'm coming."

Clive closed up the book he was reading and got off his bed, walking out of the room, only to be greeted by Luke. He patted Luke's head, then motioned for him to head downstairs with him. Luke followed him, seating himself at the table. Clive sighed, pulling up a chair for himself, staring at the homework Luke had.

"A whole 7 page packet?! Jeez, what do they take him for? A mastermind? The kid's 14! He shouldn't have to do this!" Clive growled quietly at the thought. He scanned the packet, shaking his head at each problem.

"Is this Algebra 2? Good lord Luke, don't tell me you're doing this complicated of math!" Luke sighed heavily, slouching over.

"I am... I was recommended for the class, but I didn't realize it was going to be such hard math!" Clive grabbed the pencil that was sitting nearby and scanned over the first problem.

"Alright, this is much higher level math than even what I'm used to. I'll try my best to correct it, but it won't be perfect. Ask your teacher to change your class so you aren't stuck with me doing your homework." Luke nodded, leaning over the table a bit so he could see what Clive was doing. As Clive worked, Luke noticed him slowly rolling his sleeves up. He noticed small line markings surrounding his wrist and upper arm. They were slightly red, and looked like cuts. He didn't get a very good look before Clive quickly rolled his sleeves down to his wrists, covering up most of the lines. He looked up at Luke, who had a concerned look on his face. "Clive, are you ok? You have a lot of red lines on your arms." Clive tugged at his sleeves, pulling them over his hands a bit. "It's nothing Luke. Just a mishap with my pocket knife." Luke grew even more concerned. "How did you get hurt? Did you get cut by it?" Clive sighed, returning to the homework. "I just wasn't being careful and I spun it too fast. I wound up cutting my wrists a bit."

"That's a lie, and you know it." Clive heard his own voice echoing in his head. He looked at the time, then glanced back at the homework. He had completed the rest of the problems Luke hadn't done. He pushed it to him, getting up and heading towards the stairs. "Let me know if you need anything else. I'll be on my bed, reading." He silently headed up the steps, not even bothering to look back at Luke, who looked absolutely confused.

Luke waited until Clive had gone upstairs, staring at him as he went up. The moment he heard a door close, he bolted up from the chair and ran to the phone, quickly dialing the number for Gressenheller University. A voice finally spoke up from the other side after what felt like hours of waiting.

"Hello, this is Gressenheller University! How can I help you?"

"Hi, my name is Luke Triton. I'm the apprentice to Professor Hershel Layton. Can I speak with him please?"

There was a short silence, and then a set of beeps. He sighed in relief. They had put him through to the professor. He waited for a few moments, then heard the professors voice on the other side.

"Hello?"

"Professor! Its me, Luke!"

"Ah! I apologise! I didn't expect to have you call me today! Is there something you need?"

"Yes, it's about Clive."

He heard the professor let out a worried sigh.

"What happened?"

"Well, I asked him to do my homework, but I noticed that there were some red lines on his wrists and arms. They looked like cuts, but I'm not sure."

"Oh no... What did he say about them? Did you ask?"

"He said that he just spun his knife too fast and wound up cutting himself by mistake, but there are so many, that it just doesn't make sense for that to happen. I'm worried..."

"I'm worried too Luke."

Emmy's voice suddenly popped into the speaker.

"What's going on? Professor, who's calling you?"

"It's Luke. Something is odd about Clive and Luke is explaining it to me."

"Well, what happened?"

"While Clive was doing Luke's homework, he noticed red lines, similar to cuts, surrounding Clive's wrists and arms."

"That's not good... He's not-"

"I'm hoping that he isn't, but we can't know for sure until we confront him about it."

Luke cleared his throat, nervously holding the phone.

"Professor, when can you come home? I don't think he'll talk if I confront him alone."

"Well, I have one more lecture, but it should go quickly. I'll be home within the next hour. Keep a close eye on him. I don't want him doing anything irrational."

"Professor, I'll come with you! Backup is always a good thing!"

"Alright Emmy, I'll allow that."

Luke sighed in relief, glad he wasn't going to have to do this alone.

"Ok. I should leave you to your work, Professor. I'll see you soon."

He hung up, setting the phone back in its spot. He then grabbed his satchel bag and ran to the staircase, sitting at the top step. He pulled out his notebook and began to write, keeping a close ear out for Clive. Now all he had to do was bide his time until the professor got back.

There was a short knock on the front door, followed by it opening. Luke quickly dashed down the stairs, greeting Layton and Emmy. He still looked just as concerned as he was before. Layton motioned for Emmy to follow him and Luke upstairs. Emmy grabbed Layton's shoulder, stopping him. "Hold on a moment. How are we going to do this? We don't even have a plan to confront him!" Layton tapped his chin, thinking of possible situations. "How about this? We calmly approach him, and ask him questions about the lines on his arms. If that fails, I can take it from there." Emmy nodded. "Good plan. If something happens that doesn't go according to your plan, I can pin him down." Layton sighed. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that. Now then, let's go." He headed upstairs toward Luke and Clive's room, Luke and Emmy close behind. He knocked on the door, and heard panicked shuffling behind it.

"Clive? Are you in there?"

Clive began to panic even more. He had been looking at his cuts and the moment he heard the knock, he already knew who it was, and couldn't bear to let Layton see him in that state. He threw on a blanket and dashed onto his bed, pulling his legs up to his chest.

"Yes, I'm in here. Is there something you need, Professor?" Layton twisted the knob, preparing to open the door.

"I just need to speak with you Clive. Luke and Emmy are with me as well, just so you know." Clive shuffled backwards, bumping into the backboard of the bed.

"U-uhm... I uh... sure. Come in." There was no point in fighting. He knew that he was going to be confronted about this at some point. He watched as Layton opened the door and walked in, Emmy and Luke close behind. The three sat down around him, all staring at him.

"Clive, Luke informed me today that he saw lines along your wrists and upper arms. They were red and quite large. He told me that you said it was just an accident, but we all know that this can't be true." He pointed to the knife on the nightstand, which was sitting with the blade inside the handle, completely closed.

"That pocket knife is much too small to make that many cuts in one go. You'd need to actually use it like a knife in order to acquire that many cuts. Also, that knife is also exceptionally clean. Even if you were to clean it, it would develop rust and blood stains very quickly. Clearly, there are none of those on this knife." He turned back towards him, a concerned look on his face.

"You've been lying to us Clive. Please, just tell us the truth."

Clive knew he was cornered. Layton had seen right through his lie, and had backed him into an inescapable corner. He lowered his head in shame, feeling tears gathering in his eyes. "You're right. I am lying." He felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up, seeing Layton calmly staring at him. "Just tell us the truth Clive. You don't have to hide it any longer." Clive lowered his head again, letting go of the blanket. It slipped off his shoulders and fell into a heap behind him, revealing his completely bare upper body.

Layton, Luke, and Emmy, were all in shock. Sitting before them was Clive's bare upper body, coated in bright red cuts, bruises, welts, and lightly colored scars. Emmy just sat there, her hand over her mouth. Layton was too in shock to even speak. Luke reached forwards, tracing a large cut the went across Clive's chest. He stared at each cut, lightly tracing each one. "Clive, what happened to you?" There was a slight pause, then Clive looked at him, tears trickling down his face. "Everything, Luke. Everything." Emmy finally took her hand away from her mouth. "Clive, you haven't been... cutting yourself, have you?" He shook his head. "No, I haven't, but I have scars from when I did."

He held out his arms, his hands balled into fists and flexed downwards so his wrists were prominently showing. Cuts lined the undersides of his arms and wrists, neatly organized like tally marks. Each one seemed to be deeper than the next. Layton cautiously took hold of Clive's wrist, looking at each cut. "They're so... organized. Why are they like that?" Clive traced each one with his finger, tapping a small set of dots underneath each one. "I couldn't keep tally marks on the wall, and I didn't have my notebook, so I used my arms as a placeholder. Each cut was deeper than the next, and then I hit day 15."

He turned over his left arm, revealing a massive cut that puffed out. He traced the jagged line, wincing a bit at the touch. "I wasn't thinking, and I wound up cutting much deeper than I should've. It resulted in this massive cut. It's never fully healed, nor has it healed properly. It still hurts to this day." Luke pointed to Clive's chest, tracing each cut, bruise, and welt. "How did you get all of those then?" Clive sighed, tapping one of the massive bruises that sat near his rib cage. "Well, all of these other cuts, bruises, and the like, all came from prison inmates I had to deal with. Anytime they let us out of our cells, they'd seek me out and pin me down before I could escape. Then they'd beat me senseless, using anything they could find to hurt me, whether it be my pocket knife, or their fists, they'd try to hurt me. Usually, Grosky would find me completely unconscious afterwards, and I'd usually be bleeding pretty badly. They stopped letting go outside for that reason."

He got onto his knees and turned around, revealing even more scars, much larger than the ones on the front. One large scar was prominent across the entire back. It looked like a beast had clawed it open, as it was torn and ripped on the edges where it had healed. "This one came from the strongest prison inmate; Steelhead. He could rip anyone smaller than him in two. He tore open my back while I was being beaten up." He turned back around so he was facing the three. Luke immediately hugged him, nestling his face in Clive's chest. Clive hugged him back, beginning to cry. Emmy and Layton both joined Luke in the hug. Clive was crying into Luke's cap, clutching the child tightly. Luke snuggled up against him, whispering calming words to him in an attempt to calm him down. Layton and Emmy just hugged him tighter, occasionally telling him that everything was ok.

After what felt like ages, Clive finally stopped crying. He was still nestled up against Luke, face buried in his cap. Layton and Emmy let go, leaning over to see Clive's face. He didn't let go of Luke, that is, until Luke managed to squirm out of his grasp. He stared up at Clive, a big smile on his face. "Everything is fine Clive, you don't have to be sad." He wiped the tears out of Clive's eyes, then grabbed the blanket behind him and tossed it over their heads. Layton and Emmy scooted away from the blanket before it could land on them, getting up and standing next to the bed. Luke and Clive let the blanket fall onto them, laughing as it landed. Clive grabbed ahold of Luke, then pulled the blanket off of their head and wrapped it around them. He yawned, resting his head on top of Luke's. Layton tapped Emmys shoulder, motioning for her to follow him.

"We should let them be. They both look tired." Emmy glanced over at them, noticing the absolutely exhausted Clive ready to pass out at any moment, and Luke failing to stay awake. She giggled, waving to the two, then followed Layton out of the room.

Clive sleepily watched as they left, then let himself fall backwards, Luke still in his arms. He curled up against Luke's body, rolling onto his side to fit better. "If you want to stay with me, you can, but if you want to leave, let me know." Luke laughed, snuggling up in Clive's arms. "Of course I want to stay with you! You need some company to sleep with." He removed his hat, setting it on the nightstand. Clive pulled the blanket over himself more, smiling. "Thank you, for everything. You, the Professor, and Emmy, are all the best people I've ever met." Luke smiled. "You're welcome Clive!" Within moments, the two were sound asleep, dreaming sweet dreams.


End file.
